Our love must not be a thing of words and fine talk.
It must be a thing of action and sincerity.
1 John 3:18

Thursday, January 28, 2010

It's Almost Time

It's almost the end of this month's Give A Blessing for Baby Be Blessed and little Malachi Stephen is at $600. We have two days left to get to the $1,000 goal.

How cute is that face?

I understand that everyone's been in your pockets (that's what my mom always says...especially around Christmas time). I don't mean to be in your pockets, but I know that this little boy deserves some love and his parents could use some help.

Here's what his parents have to say about his first few days of life:Within the first couple days we learned that he had a tracehoesophageal fistula that needed repair; his heart defects consisted of aortic atresia, ASD/VSD, and he needed meds to keep his PDA open so blood would be sent from his heart to his body; and choanal atresia. He has reflux which will require a g-tube and problems handling thick secretions which will most likely need a tracheostomy so we can bypass his upper airway. A week or two after his admission to the children's hospital, he was given the clinical diagnosis of CHARGE. Since the initial diagnosis of CHARGE, we have also learned that he is most likely completely deaf, adequate vision is questionable as he has bilateral optic disk colobomas, and his MRI showed evidence that would suggest moderate to severe mental retardation. We definitely have our work cut out for us!

Malachi has since undergone his TEF repair, Norwood stage I modified repair with placement of a Sano shunt, choanal atresia repair, and a closed-heart surgery where they placed a secondary shunt to help with pulmonary blood flow of which he is now recovering. He has also had a brain MRI, head CT, numerous echocardiograms, and too many x-rays to count. He had been having trouble keeping his oxygen saturation levels above 60, but after this recent surgery, he seems to be doing better.

CHARGE, according to Wikipedia, is a syndrome caused by a genetic disorder. It was first described in 1979. In 1981, the term "CHARGE" came into use as an acronym for the set of unusual congenital features seen in a number of newborn children.[1] The letters stand for: Coloboma of the eye, Heart defects, Atresia of the nasal choanae, Retardation of growth and/or development, Genital and/or urinary abnormalities, and Ear abnormalities and deafness. These features are no longer used in making a diagnosis of CHARGE syndrome, but the name remains.

Maybe you can't afford to donate any money, could you please forward this along to someone who might? Or could you at least keep this little boy in your prayers? God is faithful and prayers are definitely a welcome currency.

Just know that Baby Be Blessed does offer a drawing for those who donate. (E-mail order.babybeblessed@gmail.com to send your ChipIn information. The money goes directly to the family)

This month, first place is their newest item:

A lion! Grrrrr.

Second prize gets a shirt from Wild Olive Tees. I'm kind of actually in love with these t-shirts. They're beautiful!

So if you could donate, that would be wonderful. If you know someone you think would be able to donate, that would be great too. And if you could please pray, I'm sure they would thank you a thousand times over.